The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-171136, which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a connector comprising an insulating housing, having a plurality of juxtaposed terminal receiving portions each having an opening for the insertion of a connection terminal, and a cover member for covering the openings of the terminal receiving portions.
2. Related Art
FIG. 10 shows one known conventional connector for press-contacting terminals.
This connector 51 is disclosed, for example, in JP-A-9-161878, and comprises an insulating housing 54, having a plurality of juxtaposed terminal receiving chambers 52 each having an upper opening 59 for the insertion of a press-contacting terminal (not shown), and a cover 56 for closing the upper openings 59.
The cover 56 is integrally connected to an upper wall of the insulating housing 54 through thin hinges 57 so as to be opened and closed.
The press-contacting terminals are mounted respectively in the terminal receiving chambers 52 separated from one another by side walls 52a, and after a corresponding wire (not shown) is press-contacted to the associated press-contacting terminal, the upper openings 59 are closed by the cover 56.
In the closed condition of the cover 56, lock claws 56a, formed respectively on opposite side edges of the cover 56 in a projected manner, are engaged respectively in cover retaining portions 54a, formed in a recessed manner in inner surfaces of opposite side walls of the insulating housing 54, respectively, thereby holding the cover 56 on the insulating housing 54.
Terminal retaining portions 58, corresponding respectively to the terminal receiving chambers 52, are formed on and project from a rear end surface of the cover 56, and when the cover 56 is closed, the terminal retaining portions 58 are engaged respectively with the connection terminals, mounted respectively in the terminal receiving chambers 52, thereby preventing the disengagement of the connection terminals in a double manner in cooperation with retaining piece portions of the connection terminals.
In the above connector 51, however, when the number of the terminal receiving chambers 52 is to be changed in accordance with a required number of circuits and a required circuit form, new molds for forming such an insulating housing must be produced, and in the case where there are required many kinds of connectors different in the number of poles, various molds are required, and this has invited a problem that the production cost is greatly increased.
And besides, in the above connector 51, the cover retaining portions 54a, which is engageable respectively with the lock claws 56a of the cover 56 to hold the cover 56 on the insulating housing 54 in such a manner that the cover 56 closes the upper openings 59, are formed in a recessed manner in the inner surfaces of the opposite side walls of the insulating housing 54, respectively.
Therefore, the opposite side walls of the insulating housing 54 have an increased thickness since the cover retaining portions 54a are formed in a recessed manner in these side walls, respectively, and this has invited a problem that the insulating housing 54 is increased in size.
It is therefore an object of this invention to solve the above problems, and more specifically to provide an improved connector which can easily meet with a required number of circuits and a required circuit form at low costs, and also can be formed into a compact size despite the fact that the connector is provided with a cover member for covering upper openings of terminal receiving portions.
The above object of the present invention has been achieved by a connector comprising:
an insulating housing including
a long base plate,
a plurality of partition wall formed upright on the long base plate portion, so that a plurality of juxtaposed terminal receiving portions are formed, each terminal receiving portion having an opening for inserting a connection terminal, and
a plurality of terminal retaining portions formed on the partition walls, each of which is engageable with a housing engagement portion of the connection terminal inserted into the terminal receiving portion through the opening thereof so as to position the connection terminal,
wherein the insulating housing is formed by cutting a chain housing into a section having a required number of terminal receiving portions; and
a cover member for covering the openings of the terminal receiving portions, including
a cover engagement portion formed in the cover member, engageable with the terminal retaining portion which is formed at an end of the insulating housing so as to connect the cover member with the insulating housing.
In the connector, each of the terminal receiving portions is configured to have the same width with each other.
Further, each of the terminal retaining portions is configured to have the same structure with each other.
In the above construction, the insulating housing, having the plurality of juxtaposed terminal receiving portions, is formed by cutting the chain housing (beforehand integrally molded into a long, chain-like construction extending in the direction of juxtaposition of the terminal receiving portion) into a length or section, having a required number of terminal receiving portions, at a later stage. Therefore, the various insulating housings, having different numbers of terminal receiving portions, can be obtained merely by changing the cutting position.
Therefore, even when many kinds of connectors, having different numbers of poles, are required to be produced, it is not necessary to prepare many kinds of molds for the various insulating housings having different numbers of terminal receiving portions, and the production cost can be reduced.
When the chain housing is cut, the terminal retaining portions, formed on the partition walls, are exposed to the outer side walls of the insulating housing, and therefore the cover engagement portion can be engaged with the corresponding terminal retaining portion to connect the cover member to the insulating housing.
Therefore, any special cover retaining portion for engagement with the cover engagement portion of the cover member does not need to be provided at the insulating housing, and the increased size of the insulating housing, which would otherwise be caused by the provision of such cover retaining portion on the insulating housing, is prevented.